Hundreds of public charter school students and staff will rally at the state Capitol today to protest the budget pending at the Legislature that charter officials say will cut their funding by $400 to $900 per student.

Under the budget proposed by Gov. Linda Lingle and being considered by state lawmakers, charter school administrators say, the state's 27 public charter schools may have to cut services or positions.

"We're looking at a significant underfunding next year compared to this year, and certainly a significant underfunding for what is equitable and fair," said Reshela DuPuis, executive director of the Charter School Administrative Office.

However, some state lawmakers say the total charter school budget will actually increase by $4.5 million next school year, while the overall budget for the Department of Education and many other state agencies is being cut.

Charter school administrators counter that the budget doesn't keep up with the anticipated increase in enrollment.

Sen. Rosalyn Baker, D-5th (W. Maui, S. Maui), chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the charter school budget is Lingle's proposal.

"They're trying to say that we're cutting them. We're not," Baker said. "We gave them exactly what the governor requested.

"The charter schools' beef is not with the Legislature, it's with the governor," she said.

Currently, charter schools receive about $8,000 per pupil under their annual budget of roughly $51 million.

The charter school budget is expected to increase to about $56 million next school year. But with enrollment expected to increase by more than a thousand students next year, that would mean per-pupil funding could decrease to anywhere from $7,100 to $7,600, said Bob Roberts, chief financial officer of public charter schools.

To account for the anticipated enrollment increase, the charter schools had requested $19 million more this year.

Regular public schools got an estimated $11,004 per pupil in 2005-06. But it is difficult to estimate whether charter schools receive less per pupil than regular public schools because special education and other services are provided to the charter schools by the DOE, officials say.

Historically, charter school administrators have argued that the charter student receives significantly less than a regular public school student.

Some 230 students from Voyager Public Charter School in Kaka'ako are expected to be among those rallying for more money at the Legislature today.

Evan Anderson, a kindergarten teacher at Voyager, said a budget shortfall could hurt the school's quality of education.

"My instinctive fear is that it would diminish the number of teachers on the staff," he said.

That might mean more children per class. "More than just adding stress with having to manage more kids, it really starts to rule out the more creative, more interesting ways of teaching that we've adopted at the school," Anderson said.

Diana Oshiro, principal of Myron B. Thompson Academy, said that while her school will be hurt by having less money per pupil, smaller charter schools will be hurt more.

"Once you start to decrease the per-pupil, you have significant loss compared to those of us who are a little bit larger and can kind of scrape by on consolidating funds here and there," Oshiro said.

Charter schools must find and pay for their facilities, she said, so every dollar is vital.

It is difficult to estimate how much charter schools typically spend on facilities, because some have converted from a regular public school to a charter, while others operate out of storefronts or renovated warehouses, DuPuis said.

For instance, Voyager has estimated it spends $30,000 a month on rent and loan repayments for its facilities. Ka Waihona Public Charter School, which operates out of the old Nanaikapono Elementary School, pays no rent but does pay for regular repairs and maintenance.

Lingle requested a $4.5 million increase in the charter school budget to accommodate two new charter schools and the conversion of Kamaile Elementary School to a charter school next year. Lawmakers included that amount in the state budget.

"On one hand, they believe they are not getting the money they need," said Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Palisades), chairman of the House education committee. "But on the other hand, they are getting more money than they got last year."

"Keep in mind that at the same time we're cutting the DOE's budget," Takumi said.

He said the governor could request more money for charter schools.

Russell Pang, a spokesman with the governor's office, did not return a phone call requesting comment.

Baker said the charter school administration has not provided a clear picture of its current enrollment situation and why charter schools should have received more than what the governor requested.

"It's the responsibility of the charter schools' administrative office to stay on top of this and not wait until the 11th hour to say, 'Oh, we got calculated wrong,'" the senator said.